Why is Vega important to the magnitude system?

It has long served as a zero point for brightness

What is unusual about Vega's rotation?

It spins very fast and bulges at the equator

Vega Star Quiz: The Bright Gem of the Summer Triangle

In 1850 Vega became the first star after the Sun to be photographed, and this Vega star quiz looks at why the star remains important to astronomers. Play an interactive set of 10 questions on Lyra, the Summer Triangle with Deneb and Altair, precession, the magnitude scale, its rapid spin, its dusty disk, Tanabata and Carl Sagan's Contact.

Start Vega Star Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Constellation
In which constellation is Vega?
Triangle
Which two stars join Vega to form the Summer Triangle?
Distance
Roughly how far away is Vega?
Pole
Why will Vega become the North Star around 13,700 CE?
Photo
What first did Vega achieve in 1850?
Scale
Why is Vega important to the magnitude system?
Spin
What is unusual about Vega's rotation?
Disk
What did the IRAS satellite discover around Vega in 1983?
Tanabata
In the Japanese Tanabata legend, which character does Vega represent?
Contact
In Carl Sagan's novel Contact, where does the alien signal come from?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: In which constellation is Vega?
Answer: Lyra
It is Alpha Lyrae, the brightest star of the lyre.
Q2: Which two stars join Vega to form the Summer Triangle?
Answer: Deneb and Altair
The asterism is high overhead on Northern Hemisphere summer evenings.
Q3: Roughly how far away is Vega?
Answer: 25 light-years
It is one of the closer bright stars.
Q4: Why will Vega become the North Star around 13,700 CE?
Answer: Earth's axis slowly wobbles
Precession shifts the pole over a cycle of about 26,000 years.
Q5: What first did Vega achieve in 1850?
Answer: First star other than the Sun to be photographed
Astronomers at Harvard College Observatory captured it on a daguerreotype.
Q6: Why is Vega important to the magnitude system?
Answer: It has long served as a zero point for brightness
Astronomers once defined magnitude zero using Vega.
Q7: What is unusual about Vega's rotation?
Answer: It spins very fast and bulges at the equator
We see it nearly pole-on, which hid its fast spin for years.
Q8: What did the IRAS satellite discover around Vega in 1983?
Answer: A disk of dust
The infrared glow suggested material that might form or include planets.
Q9: In the Japanese Tanabata legend, which character does Vega represent?
Answer: Orihime, the weaver princess
Altair is Hikoboshi, the cowherd, separated from her by the Milky Way.
Q10: In Carl Sagan's novel Contact, where does the alien signal come from?
Answer: Vega
The 1997 film with Jodie Foster kept the Vega setting.

Vega Star Quiz – The Summer Triangle's Brightest Corner

Vega, the brightest star in the constellation Lyra, lies about 25 light-years from Earth. With Deneb and Altair, it forms the Summer Triangle, high in the sky on northern summer evenings.

Vega has a special place in astronomy history. In 1850 it became the first star other than the Sun to be photographed, and it long served as a zero point for the magnitude scale. It spins rapidly and is surrounded by a dusty disk discovered in 1983.

Because Earth's axis wobbles, Vega was the pole star about 14,000 years ago and will be again around 13,700 CE. In Japan's Tanabata festival it is the weaver princess, and in Carl Sagan's Contact it is the source of an alien signal.

What This Quiz Teaches

Stargazers and students will enjoy these questions.

Where Vega is
Which stars join it
Why it will be a pole star
Which firsts it holds
Which stories feature it

Did You Know?

Vega is about twice the mass of the Sun.
It appears bluish white.
The Lyrid meteor shower radiates near Vega.
Vega is the fifth brightest star in the night sky.
Light from Vega takes about 25 years to reach us.